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Analysis and Environment

Is a vital ocean current just decades away from catastrophic collapse?

Two studies suggest the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation could collapse by the middle of the century and wreak havoc with the climate, but such predictions are controversial

By Madeleine Cuff

15 July 2024

Visualisation of currents in the Atlantic Ocean

NASA

The 2004 movie The Day After Tomorrow may have taken some serious artistic licence with climate science, but it got one thing right. Climate change may indeed cause a collapse in global ocean currents, with devastating consequences.

When the Hollywood blockbuster was made, researchers knew relatively little about the state of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC), an ocean system that transports warm water and nutrients around the Atlantic Ocean.

But there were concerns that melting ice…

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